Declaring war on your data cap
[Update:Activision published a new article today with some additional specs, although it seems like the primary purpose was to address the 175GB hullabaloo. Activision walked back the 175GB requirement by saying that’s “the storage space we recommend players keep available in order to download the post-launch content we’ll be bringing toModern Warfare. At launch, the initial download will be smaller.”]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis the biggest game of the year. Best-selling? Maybe eventually because Call of Dutyis always a heavy hitter. (Right now, NPD points to Mortal Kombat 11as moving the most units.) But in terms of taking up space,Modern Warfarewill be unrivaled.
Activision recently revealed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s minimum and recommended PC specs, and one requirement sticks out like a sore thumb: It’s a 175GB install. We’re still at the point where a game taking up 100GB qualifies as absolutely giant, so Modern Warfarenearly doubling that is staggering.
There’s a chance this is a misprint, a la the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderspecs from yesterday. Xbox lists the digital edition at 100MB (which is obviously incorrect); PlayStation doesn’t specify any file size.
If it’s accurate, the 175GB can likely be chalked up to any number of things: ultra high-resolution textures, huge maps, CGI cutscenes, a bunch of language options, and a general lack of compression. This isn’t even the first eye-popping install size today; Red Dead Redemption 2needs 150GB. Your hard drive gently weeps.
Here are the minimum and recommended PC specs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:
Minimum specs:
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or Windows 10
- CPU: Intel Core i3-4340, AMD FX-6300
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 670/1650, AMD Radeon HD 7950
- RAM: 8GB
- DirectX: 12.0
- HDD: 175GB
Recommended specs:
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K, AMD Ryzen 1600X
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 970/1660, AMD Radeon R9 390/RX 580
- RAM: 12GB
- DirectX: 12.0
- HDD: 175GB
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [battle.net]